PHILADELPHIA — Authorities are examining the evidence to determine the cause of the medical transport jet crash in Northeast Philadelphia on Friday. The incident resulted in injuries to 24 individuals and claimed the lives of seven people, including the six occupants of the jet and one bystander.
The family of a 10-year-old boy injured when the jet crashed down near their car is sharing their experience.
“My baby is in there. It’s hard seeing him like that,” said the boy’s mother, Lashawn Hamiel.
Trey Howard is one of the survivors, despite being seriously injured by flying debris.
“Felt like it was a movie, like a horror movie,” said Trey’s dad, Andre Howard Jr.
Andre says he was picking up donuts with three of his kids — ages 4, 7 and 10 — when the jet came crashing down.
“It sounded as though a missile was firing bullets, metal at my car, and at everyone else’s car,” Andre recounted. “I saw a car engulfed in flames, with a man on fire. The scene was chaotic.”
He immediately backed up his car while his son Trey covered his little sister, protecting her.
“I turn around and he has metal outside of his head,” Andre described.
He said he used socks and another man’s shirt to try and stop the bleeding.
A police officer then rushed them to the hospital, where Trey had emergency brain surgery.
That night, Andre says the family was told, “it was a strong chance he might not survive.”
Miraculously, he’s now awake and recovering — even talking!
“They did an A+ job on my son. Praise God, they did a great job,” Andre said.
Andre told ABC News that his son’s first real words were about the Super Bowl.
“My son asked me, ‘Daddy, what day is it today?’ When I answered ‘Monday,’ he followed up with, ‘Did we miss playing yesterday?’ I reassured him that he hadn’t missed the Super Bowl,” Andre shared, describing his son’s unwavering support for the Eagles.
He was also concerned for his little sister.
“It had me crying,” Andre said, recalling when Trey asked, “Daddy, did I save my sister?”
“‘You told us to get down. I was just trying to help my sister.. next thing I know, I thought I died,'” Andre said his son told him in the hospital.
“As a dad, its bittersweet… I’m glad he listened but that’s my job, not his job, to protect his sister,” he added.
To lift his spirits, one of Trey’s favorite NBA players, 76ers Tyrese Maxey, visited him in the hospital.
“He says thank you to everybody. He cries, ‘Daddy, I’m a celebrity.’ ‘No, you’re bigger than a celebrity. You’re a superhero,'” Andre said he told his son.
Trey’s family says they’re grateful for everyone’s support and, of course, to still have their boy.
The young superhero is continuing his recovery at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
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